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Beyond Consumptive Solidarity: An Aesthetic Response to Human Trafficking
Author(s) -
Flores Nichole
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of religious ethics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.306
H-Index - 20
eISSN - 1467-9795
pISSN - 0384-9694
DOI - 10.1111/jore.12221
Subject(s) - solidarity , resistance (ecology) , agency (philosophy) , consumption (sociology) , agriculture , sociology , work (physics) , political economy , environmental ethics , political science , law , social science , geography , mechanical engineering , ecology , philosophy , archaeology , engineering , politics , biology
A disturbing economic reality confronts consumers today: thousands of farm workers are enslaved in U.S. agricultural fields, forced to work without pay amid deplorable conditions and under the constant threat of violence. If structural economic injustices perpetuate modern‐day agricultural slavery, then it is necessary to promote consumer practices that resist these abusive dynamics. But a consumption‐oriented strategy does not necessarily restore either personal agency or communal relations damaged by agricultural trafficking. This essay proposes a framework for aesthetic solidarity that cultivates affective bonds necessary for building communities of resistance characterized by mutuality, equality, and participation.